Student-athletes were suspended from the Wilson High School boys’ water polo team in Long Beach, Calif., as well as school in general after coaches discovered several members of the team were involved in a hazing incident in a San Jose hotel room.
According to Long Beach Post, head coach Zac Polmanteer received noise complaints from the hotel regarding the room where several of the team members had gathered. Later that day, he was informed that “multiple student-athletes were subjected to humiliating and physically harmful acts. Some student-athletes sustained injuries from being physically struck by their teammates.”
Polmanteer immediately contacted parents, and the school began an investigation the following Monday. After interviewing student-athletes separately, school administration and coaches handed down suspensions. They did not specify how many students received disciplinary action, but in the team’s Tuesday match against Poly High School, Long Beach Post noted that several of the seniors were missing.
“This level of behavior is shocking, unacceptable, and completely contrary to everything we stand for as a program,” Polmanteer wrote in his letter to parents. “Hazing is a cultural problem, even when only a handful of athletes directly participate. You can distinguish individual responsibility while acknowledging that the entire program has a responsibility to maintain a safe environment.”
All Wilson High School student-athletes sign agreements prohibiting hazing. Now, an ongoing investigation seeks to understand if last weekend’s incident is a part of a larger problem.
The boys’ water polo team is ranked fourth in the California International Federation Southern Section’s playoff rankings, and the season continues through late November.
